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Chickens and fox proofing

  • 02-02-2020 10:36pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 245 ✭✭ Isabella Square Street


    About to get hens. Have a large old stone walled enclosed area they can free range in, walls 10-12 foot high. have put in steel wire 10 foot at entrance, and under the ground at entrance. Pretty confident fox can't get through walls or gate or dig under them. However... If the fox was clever he could get up on the walls by jumping along the other boundary walls to eventually get up on the main walls surrounding chickens. My question is would a fox jump down from 10-12 foot high straight into the hen area, or would that be too high for a fox to fall/ jump. Thanks


Comments



  • Martens like Chicken too.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 245 ✭✭ Isabella Square Street


    Martens like Chicken too.

    I'm not sure we have any locally, never seen any or heard of any in the area.




  • I've never seen them either but the dirty pawprints on the windscreen aren't from a cat.


  • Registered Users Posts: 20 Blaser1982


    About to get hens. Have a large old stone walled enclosed area they can free range in, walls 10-12 foot high. have put in steel wire 10 foot at entrance, and under the ground at entrance. Pretty confident fox can't get through walls or gate or dig under them. However... If the fox was clever he could get up on the walls by jumping along the other boundary walls to eventually get up on the main walls surrounding chickens. My question is would a fox jump down from 10-12 foot high straight into the hen area, or would that be too high for a fox to fall/ jump. Thanks

    What’s your location. Pine martens are in almost every country. But for fox proofing run a strand of electric wire along the bottom of the wall and also maybe along the top of the wall. Masters and entering and escaping.


  • Registered Users Posts: 816 ✭✭✭Boardnashea


    If the fox can't get out it won't risk going in. Yes, it probably could jump down 12' but if there isn't an easy way out you should be OK.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 710 ✭✭✭Mach Two


    I know of a place where they jump up on a 9 ft wall and down the other side. Strange really as there is a gateway about 50 yds away.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2 Duckpluck


    About to get hens. Have a large old stone walled enclosed area they can free range in, walls 10-12 foot high. have put in steel wire 10 foot at entrance, and under the ground at entrance. Pretty confident fox can't get through walls or gate or dig under them. However... If the fox was clever he could get up on the walls by jumping along the other boundary walls to eventually get up on the main walls surrounding chickens. My question is would a fox jump down from 10-12 foot high straight into the hen area, or would that be too high for a fox to fall/ jump. Thanks

    You have to worry more about Mink than Martens.
    Martens don’t like crossing open ground and it’s safer for them to forage in the treetops.
    Mink on the other hand are tenacious, not afraid of humans and won’t have a problem climbing rough walls. They tend to eat the Chickens heads only as the eyes/brain are very nutrient rich. I have heard first hand of a family of Mink that attacked poultry as the farmer tried to kick them away but in vain.
    He said that they were so fast, it was over in seconds and the four Mink trotted off with a small chicken each after killing a lot of them.
    Check out the web on American Chicken farming and buried netting etc.
    I suggest that you put only a few chickens in the walled area as a test and maybe ask the local Gun/game club to place mink traps around your property holding to see if they’re around.
    American Mink are responsible for the decimation of our native river bird and water vole species and are efficient killers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 220 ✭✭Wegian


    What’s people’s experience with the electrified netting, it’s generally available in 1 metre high rolls?


  • Registered Users Posts: 823 ✭✭✭Stationmaster


    If the fox can't get out it won't risk going in. Yes, it probably could jump down 12' but if there isn't an easy way out you should be OK.
    This is very true so you should be ok. Even you're putting in steel wire/mesh the holes in the wire need to be tiny - you'd be very surprised at how small a hole a fox can squeeze through!

    As others have said though don't forget about pine martens, mink etc. Desperate little ****ers who, if they get in, will destroy everything. At least the fox will generally only kill what they can eat/takeaway.

    Hens are great though. Fascinating creatures and you could spend hours watching their habits and the way they interact with each other.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,699 ✭✭✭amacca


    Mach Two wrote: »
    I know of a place where they jump up on a 9 ft wall and down the other side. Strange really as there is a gateway about 50 yds away.

    gateway has human traffic/smell/odour?......they will avoid that?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 823 ✭✭✭Stationmaster


    amacca wrote: »
    gateway has human traffic/smell/odour?......they will avoid that?

    Not necessarily. If they feel it's safe they will go in. They're very clever animals.


  • Registered Users Posts: 710 ✭✭✭Mach Two


    amacca wrote: »
    gateway has human traffic/smell/odour?......they will avoid that?

    Most gateways have a human smell.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2 Ritiu


    In our area there was a fox that came to us from the forest. She even stole one chicken once. then she came again. But, we took action and she was no longer able to steal.


  • Registered Users Posts: 816 ✭✭✭Boardnashea


    Some people put human hair around the boundary of the hen run as the scent is said to discourage visitors. Now that we are all trimming at home you might be able to collect some.
    If your hen run is not overlooked by neighbours you could also considering piddling against the fence occasionally for the same reason.


  • Registered Users Posts: 396 ✭✭M.T.D


    My chickens, ducks and guinea fowl roam free in the garden and neighbouring fields. I've seen foxes a few fields away on several occasions. Making sure they are housed securely at night would be the main concern. When neighbours have lost hens it has been because they were not in a secure hutch or shed after dark.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,440 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    M.T.D wrote: »
    My chickens, ducks and guinea fowl roam free in the garden and neighbouring fields. I've seen foxes a few fields away on several occasions. Making sure they are housed securely at night would be the main concern. When neighbours have lost hens it has been because they were not in a secure hutch or shed after dark.

    We had a Fox come into the garden at 4pm on a sunny afternoon and swipe a chicken. My daughter was outside, came in, washed her hands and sat at the table. The Fox was heading off with one of the chickens when she looked out the window.

    I recon he was lying in wait for her to leave and then took his chance.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,788 ✭✭✭✭Igotadose


    If there's any body of water nearby, stream, lake, ocean, mink can be a REAL problem. As the other poster mentioned, they're tenacious and brutal. In our experience, the presence of a dog 'patrolling' the chicken area keeps them away, but you have to ensure the hens are secured at night.

    Neighbor had 3 hens and 3 ducks and a small terrier. These birds had the run of the yard (fairly well shielded with trees & shrubs), and a very secure coop they entered at night that was locked up. The dog was all over the yard. Well, the dog got old and passed away.

    A week later, during the day when no one was around (the neighbors not having realized this was a problem), someone let the birds out. Within hours, the mink was there, killed every bird but only made off with one. That was the last time they had birds.

    They had said, anecdotally, they had problems with foxes but the secure coop seemed to solve it.

    I'm not sure how much help trapping will be. A friends father kept a lot of hens, over 20 of them as I recall, and constantly trapped for minks. And, he constantly caught them, too. There are a *lot* of mink running around out there, I don't think you can trap them all.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭ Arjun Alive Bacon


    I've seen foxes in my garden. I put wire mesh under the run frame to stop them digging under.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,561 ✭✭✭JJayoo


    I am based in South Sligo and we are over run with Pine Martens.

    My uncle was leaving food out for the birds and it was been taken each night so he got a night vision camera and it was a pine marten. Caught Pune marten in a mink trap and brought it approx 7/8 miles to a large forested area.

    Next night another pine Marten in cage

    Next night two got into the chicken Coope.

    In total 7 pine Martens were captured and brought away to the forest.

    They are incredibly efficient hunters with no natural enemies.

    We live very close to my uncles and have never had any of our bird feeders taken, I am assuming the presence of the dog is keeping them away.


  • Registered Users Posts: 95 ✭✭sliabh beagh


    Anyone know the law regarding dogs entering your garden? Let my hens out of their run into my back garden this morning and went inside for 2 mins when neighbors sheepdog showed up and killed 2 hens. I chased after dog but had no gun or weapon to kill him. Not sure how to approach neighbors about it?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 12,788 ✭✭✭✭Igotadose


    Anyone know the law regarding dogs entering your garden? Let my hens out of their run into my back garden this morning and went inside for 2 mins when neighbors sheepdog showed up and killed 2 hens. I chased after dog but had no gun or weapon to kill him. Not sure how to approach neighbors about it?

    Contact the dog warden about it.


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